Systems designed to monitor predetermined areas, places or objects are known. These systems often incorporate video cameras that provide a continuous feed of video data that is either displayed in real time on a display device and/or recorded to a recording device, such as a video tape recorder. While these systems provide for capture and recordation of video data depicting the conditions and/or occurrences within the monitored area, they do not provide a means of easily determining when and where an occurrence or condition has taken place. Nor do they provide for any means of analyzing the information depicted by the video data.
Further, as video data requires substantial recording media space for storage, it is common for video data to be recorded and archived for only a very limited period of time. Thus, once the period of archiving has expired, the video data is either recorded over or otherwise erased from the recording media. Further, known systems do not provide for any type of analysis of video data that would allow for a determination of, for example, how long an intruder has been in a monitored area; whether the intruder is alone; how the intruder got into the monitored area; where the intruder has previously been; what the intentions of the intruder might be or, where the intruder may be going to next.